Need Lego "help" for a novice!

[alien_host]

DD is 4.5 and is just getting interested in Legos. My sis gave her the pink bucket set this weekend as an early Xmas gift and she loves it.

DH wants to get some more blocks (I have to say that the box is huge and the number of blocks seems small).

Any suggestions on "starter" sets and where to find the best deal? I don't really want sets to make a specific thing (i.e. Star Wars, Lego City etc) but just generic Lego bricks so DH and DD can just build whatever comes to mind.

Does the Lego store sell just pieces? We saw some cool things on Lego TV that had curved pieces etc.

TIA!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Lego stores do sell plain bricks. You fill up a container and pay by container size. Some stores have grab bags already made up.

In defense of sets, after the sets are built and briefly played with as is they always morph into something different around here. Ds will get out his other bricks and add on, do cool stuff. The sets are really fun and help introduce kids to different ways they can assemble things so they can take those skills and apply them to unique creations.

Beth

[WatchingThemGrow]

In defense of sets, after the sets are built and briefly played with as is they always morph into something different around here. Ds will get out his other bricks and add on, do cool stuff. The sets are really fun and help introduce kids to different ways they can assemble things so they can take those skills and apply them to unique creations.

Beth

Thanks for making that point, Beth! We experienced that last month with a Duplo set from the Thomas series. We got Stanley and the Waterton Shed, but DD went nuts making little sheds for all the regular wooden Thomas stuff. Last night I inquired about a huge set of Thomas Duplo stuff on CL, then asked DH. He said that he wanted to stick with basic blocks, which we already have. Interestingly, the seller replied with a lower price (for me ) because I was her son's K teacher a few years ago! DH said we had to buy them now, just because the seller knew us, lol.

Anyway, they'll be a great addition to our open stock of blocks we got at a consignment sale. He wants me to grab some more basic blocks at the next sale. They were really cheap there. I'm guessing, OP you can prob. get tons of legos on CL or 2nd hand, then just clean them like we did.

[brittone2]

I'd look for 2nd hand as well. We bought DS a starter bin of just bricks, and then once we knew he liked it, MIL mailed down DH's childhood Lego collection (all mixed together at that point but I was totally fine with that). They look as good as new.

Those things are so well made that if you can find them 2nd hand for a decent price, it is a great option.

We took DS to a Lego store a few months ago and he had fun filling one of their cups for 10 or 15 bucks and put a lot of fun, novel pieces in there to build with.

[ett]

Make sure that when you buy them second hand that they are really legos. I see a lot of listings on CL advertising legos but they are really selling megablocs. Same thing in consignment stores. I see both brands mixed together and the prices are very high.

[wendmatt]

Be sure to get a big green base, Toysrus has them for about $10 and it's been great for DD, she uses it all the time. We got a starter box and the pink box that has a few bits to make an icecream shop, duck and horse, with a small base, but she uses the big base and builds her own stuff. We also got a big tub of stuff from a garage sale, it is megablocks )with a few bits of lego) actually but it works with the lego just fine and it was only $1, so a bargain! She did get the beach house kit but after she built it she didn't want to take it apart so I can see why you wouldn't want to get a kit. She hasn't wanted to add it to her other stuff like Beth suggested either, she's far too particular!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Be sure to get a big green base, Toysrus has them for about $10 and it's been great for DD, she uses it all the time. We got a starter box and the pink box that has a few bits to make an icecream shop, duck and horse, with a small base, but she uses the big base and builds her own stuff. We also got a big tub of stuff from a garage sale, it is megablocks )with a few bits of lego) actually but it works with the lego just fine and it was only $1, so a bargain! She did get the beach house kit but after she built it she didn't want to take it apart so I can see why you wouldn't want to get a kit. She hasn't wanted to add it to her other stuff like Beth suggested either, she's far too particular!

We have the beach house too. It was so cool when built that we did keep it constructed a long time. Plus, I have a rule that if a set is $$ and takes a long time to build then it needs to stay assembled X amount of time. But, smaller sets lie little buildings and vehicles always get rearranged quickly. His building style goes through phases too.

Beth

[vonfirmath]

Make sure that when you buy them second hand that they are really legos. I see a lot of listings on CL advertising legos but they are really selling megablocs. Same thing in consignment stores. I see both brands mixed together and the prices are very high.

!! THIS. Lego puts their name on EVERY block (Regular Lego and Duplo, at least). If it doesn't say "Lego" -- it isn't.

[alien_host]

Thanks for the input!

For those with "sets" do you keep those segregated in separate storage containers so you can rebuild them over and over? It seems like a PITA and difficult for a 4 YO to understand that you need to keep certain pieces together. I imagine everything will be dumped on the floor and I can't imagine having to search through an entire bucket for a small red piece or whatever.

I figured for now we would just get a bunch of random blocks and build our own "stuff". I did find a brand new set that makes 3 construction vehicles at a yard sale for $3.

I haven't seen used Legos at the sales I've been to or at the consignment sales but I'll start looking once Spring hits.

Thanks for the tips! I did see the green board at TRU, I'll pick that up this week...thanks for the reminder!

[vonfirmath]

Nope. The sets got dumped in with the rest in our Lego sorting container. The instructions were how we put them back together.